The work-to-rule and possible work stoppages by 40,000 nurses, which were to take place from Monday, have been deferred to allow for new talks.
The talks between nursing unions and health service management, which will run for three weeks, will be held under the aegis of the National Implementation Body (NIB), the main trouble-shooting mechanism of the social partnership process.
However, both management and union sources cautioned last night that major difficulties remained in dealing with nurses' pay claims outside the scope of the benchmarking process.
Nursing unions said the industrial action would resume if progress was not made at the talks.
The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) are seeking a 10 per cent pay rise, a 35- hour week and a special allowance for those working in Dublin.
The new talks will involve all the nursing unions, including Siptu and Impact which were not part of the dispute.
In a separate track the talks under the NIB will also seek to put in place a forum for dealing with controversial non-pay issues throughout the wider health service, such as working practices, staffing levels and working hours.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) in a letter on Thursday that the Government supported such a move.
"The Government also recognises that the achievement of a high-quality, cost-effective and sustainable healthcare system requires significant change to reflect the changing needs of patients, the impact of new technology and drugs and best practice in the deployment of skilled and valuable healthcare personnel."
The new initiative to head off the nurses' dispute followed contacts between Government officials and senior Ictu figures over recent weeks. Meetings took place in Government Buildings on Wednesday and Thursday.
It is understood that a management position paper said that an early reduction in the working week for nurses could be put in place as part of any overall reconfiguration of service delivery. It also suggested that pay anomalies between nurses and some social care grades could be addressed "where nurses were working directly with social care workers".
In a statement yesterday the Government and Ictu said that the new process would seek to address the issues underpinning the current nurses' dispute while taking account of the relevant Labour Court recommendations.
The decision to defer the industrial action was welcomed by the Taoiseach and Minister for Health Mary Harney. "I think the involvement of congress and the NIB offers the best prospect of finding a satisfactory solution," she said, "and I guarantee that my department and the HSE will engage fully and positively in the process."
Mr Ahern told nursing union leaders in a letter that the management side would be "open and creative" in the new process.
INO general secretary Liam Doran said nurses had been seeking for many months an intensive set of negotiations to address all the issues of priority to nurses and midwives.
